There has to be some other thread to pull these last 18 games together. I mean, 1-15-2 over the past two seasons on the second night of back-to-back games, that’s shockingly consistent.

And yet, I can’t find the reason for this dismal performance.

On Wednesday, the Stars talked about it, planned for it, prepared for it…and still failed. They stumbled out of the gates, got behind 3-0 and eventually fell 7-4 to a fresh Calgary team. Richard Bachman was not good. Heck, there were two bouncing pucks in the first two minutes of the game that I thought had somehow eluded him, he was so shaky.

Still, his teammates could have bailed him out. They could have set a tone. We used to talk about it all of the time in Dallas. “The backup is in…play accordingly.’’ Now, the Stars had a string of pretty fantastic backups, so maybe it was just an embarrassment of riches back in the day…but this group of netminders isn’t too shabby, either.

And so, you have to go to the game.

What the heck is so wrong with this team that they can’t win on the second night of back-to-back games? It was a 30-minute flight from Edmonton to Calgary. The players were probably in bed by 1:30 a.m. and didn’t have to be up in the morning for the skate if they didn’t want to be.

Teams every day in the NHL have tougher gigs and get it done. Chicago played in Vancouver Feb. 1 and then walked in and beat the Flames Feb. 2, 3-2 in a shootout. Colorado also played in Vancouver (on Jan. 30). The Avalanche came in the next night and beat the fresh Flames, 6-3.

It shouldn’t be that difficult. And yet, the Stars can’t seem to find a solution.

“It must be something. It must be something with this group, because we can’t seem to fight our way out of it,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “We’ve tried different routines and the whole bit…it must be mental.”

Stars captain Brenden Morrow was equally frustrated.

“It’s a problem,’’ he said. “We talk about it every game, about making changes, about superstitions we might have. It’s something we have to fix.’’

The defense was under fire early, and that led to penalties for Trevor Daley (tripping at 4:47) and Alex Goligoski (interference at 9:16). Both were avoidable. Both have been talked about. Both hurt the Stars. Calgary scored a beautiful tic-tac-toe late in the Daley penalty and rammed home a slamdunk early in the Goligoski transgression. And boom, it was 3-0 just 10 minutes into the game.

“You can’t get down 3-0 in another’s team’s barn on a back-to-back, you can’t give them two power plays and get down,” said Gulutzan. “You just can’t do that. You can’t win that way.”

And everything after that is kinda tough to judge. Calgary started to play conservative. Leland Irving became scared in Calgary’s net and started to play afraid to make a mistake. The numbers started to slide the Stars’ way.

In the end, Dallas finished with some of the best statistics in any game it has played this season. The Stars outshot Calgary 34-23, they earned four power plays to two for the Flames. They won the faceoff battle, 40-37, and Jamie Benn was an impressive 17-11.

I mean, you see those numbers, and you think this was a huge Stars win.

It wasn’t.

Because too often the defense couldn’t handle the Flames’ forecheck, too often the forwards were a mess in the defensive zone, too often Dallas left Flames players completely uncovered and firing rockets at Bachman.

And, too often, Bachman was not Kari Lehtonen.

It’s not his fault, really. Lehtonen has spoiled the fans here. He has been that good. The Stars didn’t deserve two points in Edmonton, let alone a 4-1 win, but Lehtonen made it happen.

Maybe he’ll eventually have to play the second half of one of these back-to-backs. Maybe he’ll get both ends in Nashville and Columbus in two weeks. Maybe he’ll sit out the first game and play the second. Something has to change at some point.

But maybe the Stars just need to fix this without Lehtonen. Maybe that’s what is needed for the long-term health of this team.

It appears Lehtonen can play the next four games…so the issue will be pushed to the backburner for now.

But there are five of these left, and it’s probably not a good idea to lose all five. If you go 0-9-0 in these games in a 48-game season, you really are making it tough on yourself.

So what can they learn?

“We were soft in the beginning, soft with our sticks, soft with our plays. We weren’t ready,” said Gulutzan. “I thought they played a solid game, but I didn’t think they came guns a blazing. I thought we were just soft.”

And that seems like something that can be remedied.

Morow-Benn-Jagr line continues to score: They are far from perfect, and they got some extra time on the ice because the Stars trailed the entire game, but the Brenden Morrow-Jamie Benn-Jaromir Jagr line struck again on Wednesday. This time Morrow had two goals, while Jagr had two assists and Benn added one helper. That gives the line nine goals in the last five games.

On the bad side, they each found a way to be a minus-2 on the night. One of the goals was on a Stars’ power play, so the line didn’t get a plus for that one. But, the line was also out for the first goal and looked deficient while Flames defenseman Jay Bouwmeester crowded the net and no forwards offered defensive help. Another was an empty-netter at the end, so that hardly counts.

But one of the goals against in the middle was fairly interesting, and offered a little insight into the potential of the line. The trio was out against the Michael Cammalleri line, and got roasted pretty badly at the 3:23 mark of the second period. But Stars coach Glen Gulutzan told them to stay out for the ensuing faceoff, and you saw a real determination from Morrow-Benn-Jagr.

The trio went right into attack mode, and Morrow went straight to the net. He cleaned up with his second goal of the game just 24 seconds after allowing a score against. Jamie Oleksiak and Jagr got the assists, but Benn also was a huge part of the shift.

And, it was a very nice answer that allowed the score to remain at least close at 5-3.

Morrow was a little snippy when asked if this is a sign he is past his early-season struggles, but he has been in battle mode, so it’s to be expected.

“I’m not really sure what my role was early in the year, so I’m tired of hearing I was struggling,’’ he said. “But right now, pucks are going in for me, so that’s good.’’

Morrow now has three goals and four assists for seven points in 14 games, and ranks tied for third on the team in scoring with Derek Roy and Loui Eriksson.

Bachman situation bears watching: Richard Bachman didn’t have a great night. He struggled seeing the puck early, and he finished with six goals allowed on 22 shots. That will not help the numbers at all.

So, with Cristopher Nilstorp healthy and playing in the AHL, is it time to switch the back-ups?

We’ll see. Nilstorp does make a huge raise from $100,000 at the AHL level to $1 million at the NHL level, and that seems like an excessive amount to increase the payroll just to have the backup in Dallas to watch Kari Lehtonen play. Lehtonen should get the next four starts, so you have to wonder if the Stars will watch Nilstorp in Austin and then make an assessment.

Bachman signed a one-way deal for $625,000 this year, so he would make the same money in the AHL. That could factor into the decision-making.

And as for Wednesday’s game, Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said it was tough to judge Bachman.

“He’s certainly had better nights, but we didn’t give him any help. We didn’t give him any help at all,” Gulutzan said of Bachman. “Point blank shots. We limited the shots, but when they are all point blank, what is your goalie going to do?”

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